How to Grow Crabapple Trees From Stem Cuttings

Crabapples grow easily from stem cuttings.

Unlike their close relatives, the garden apple, crabapples (Malus spp.) are grown primarily for their ornamental springtime blossoms and fall foliage. They grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 to 8, and you can propagate them from softwood cuttings in late spring or early summer. Crabapple cuttings root fairly quickly under most conditions and will be ready to transplant by early fall. Start crabapple cuttings once the blossoms have completely disappeared and the leaves have fully formed.

1

Fill a 6-inch plastic container with a mix of equal measures peat and coarse sand. Soak the peat in water before mixing it with the sand.

2

Gather a 5- to 7-inch-long tip cutting with several sets of young leaves on the tip and a pliant stem. Cut the stem 1/4 inch below a set of leaves with bypass shears.

3

Strip off the mature leaves along the lower one-third of the crabapple cutting. Coat this lower area of the stem with 0.8-percent IBA (indolebutyric acid) rooting hormone.

4

Stick the hormone-coated end of the crabapple cutting into the prepared container. Press it in until the lowest set of leaves rests on the surface of the growing mixture. Firm the mixture around the base of the cutting.

5

Place the potted crabapple cutting outdoors in a sheltered area with filtered light. Protect it from wind and direct sun to prevent the leaves from drying out.

6

Drizzle water onto the growing mixture just around the base of the cutting. Maintain constant moisture in the peat mixture, but allow it to become nearly dry just below the surface.

7

Provide intermittent mist with an automated system or by spritzing the cutting two or three times a day with a spray bottle. Make sure to mist the undersides of the leaves, if you're using a spray bottle.

8

Tug the crabapple cutting in four to six weeks to check for roots. Feel if the cutting sticks to the growing medium rather than moving freely when you pull it.

9

Leave the rooted crabapple cutting in partial shade for the remainder of summer. Transplant it into a sunny bed with well-draining soil in early fall, around mid-October.

About the Author

Anastasia Leon began writing professionally in 2001. Her experience as a horticulturalist and nurseryman informs her work, which has appeared in publications such as Mother Earth News and Modern Farmer. Leon is a certified master gardener and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz.